Her pink cheeks from the crisp fall days frame a soft mouth I can still taste on my lips. And it’s a punch to the gut.
“Reading anything good?” I ask.
“I am, actually.” Her voice is light, like she’s holding a detonator to blow me up and smiling through it.
Because she is.
In her hands is an old copy of the Seattle Medical Herald.
I take a seat at the table across from her and exhale. “Any questions?”
“I only heard the story in passing. Like a myth, an old wives’ tale. It should be a movie. Doctor saves a kid’s life, and the hospital fires him for it. Makes me question if what I’m doing is worth it.”
“No,” I say, and pull the paper from her, folding it closed. “Never think that. It’s always worth it.”
“Would you do it again?”
“Yes.” My throat goes tight because no one’s ever asked me that. And I never truly knew if I would. Untilright this second. “But I would handle the aftermath differently. I was young and cocky and walked away in spite. I fought for that little boy. But I didn’t fight for me.”
“Cormac,” Scarlett gasps, holding her chest. “That’s really profound.”
“I’m a profoundly complicated guy.” I sit back and clear my throat. “We should talk more about what happened last week.”
“Oh, you mean the part where you shoved me under your desk and fucked my face? No problem,” she says with a sarcastic little click of her tongue.
“That vivid visual reminder isn’t helping.”
“Or the part when you tried toblackmailme into marrying you. And if I didn’t, someone else would be…” She swallows hard, affected by my harsh threat all over again. “Sure. Let’s talk.”
She’s staring right at me, but she can’t see how her words are a knife to my ribs. Because she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t know what I’ve been through.
“It’s not just your father who wants me married. My family wants me to settle down, too. I’m dealing with other factors that go deeper than you can imagine, Scarlett.”
It’s also tied to getting visitation rights with my son. And this can’t be a game anymore. If it’s just about sex for her, then I have to back off.
The look she gives me is suspicious. Curious. Concerned. She’s connecting threads I don’t want her touching.
“And this wife you’re looking for, will it be a real marriage?” She’s asking if I can fuck someone else when I really want her.
“Probably,” I say, because her jealousy is addictive.
She looks like I slapped her. “You could have lied.”
“Time is running out,” I warn her. “I have to act, oryour father won’t hire me full-time. And I need this job.”
She takes back the newspaper and starts roughly turning pages. Her tension is so thick it could choke me. I want to wrap her in my arms.
“Are you okay?” I ask quietly.
She hesitates long enough to hurt me. “I will be.”
I stand to make my escape before I say something unforgivable and drag her into the nearest supply closet to convince her again. With my cock in her pussy this time, if that will help. “I’ll see you in class.”
“Sure.” She exhales, long and shaky.
It feels like that night at the hotel, when I walked away from her, certain that I would never get to touch her again.
Chapter 28